Planting annuals in your Houston landscape

Planting annuals in your Houston landscape is a visual treat, the “fresh air” that a landscape design regularly needs. With each new season, they give you and all who travel past your property a renewed appreciation of the exterior landscapes. Annuals put color, texture and liveliness in your gardens. Purple pansies, orange daisies, pink begonias and red geraniums delight and captivate us when used as seasonal color because the human eye is naturally drawn to what is new.

Exterior Worlds uses the basic design philosophies of unity, repetition and balance when planting annuals, principles that are foundational to planting gardens of all types, shapes and sizes. There are many ways we accomplish these goals:

• We limit the color choices to those that work well together.
• Sometimes we may plant a single specimen throughout the gardens.
• Conversely, we may repeat a color across several different plant types.
• Always we consider the whole so that the overall scheme stays in balance.

Garden pots, containers and urns are perfect vessels for your seasonal color. For instance, potted annuals make a courtyard garden design really come alive. They add an architectural element to the ambiance. We have used a combination of pots and color to define a garden space or frame a view. By planting annuals in large-sized containers overflowing with color, we have also used them to create a zone, and, when you tire of that arrangement, we can always reconfigure the pots into another design.

We also recommend that you supplement the color that annuals bring to your yard with blooming trees, bushes, vines, grasses and other plant material. We like to mix up the blooming phases of your choices so that you get different spots of color throughout the year. For instance, native grasses provide movement and subtlety. We also use colorful, variegated foliage and berry-bearing bushes to bring variety without extra expense. In particular, planting roses is a prized way to add exquisite color to your gardens.

One note to the wise gardener: installing a drip irrigation system is a smart way to deliver water to your annuals, especially if they are in small or difficult spaces. Examples for their uses include beds between sidewalks or along a driveway, rose gardens, and containers such as decorative pots and hanging baskets. Drip systems let you to water the root systems instead of the flowers, something your annuals will truly appreciate.

When to plant annuals is a question we get a lot. The first consideration needs to be which annuals are appropriate for the current season, and by that we mean specifically the Houston climate. Attention must be paid to our mild winters, hot and humid summers and tendencies toward monsoon-like rains. The same answer is true for the question when to switch out to next seasonal color. In general, you’ve most likely waited too late if the current plantings aren’t surviving.

Make your Houston home and garden pop by planting annuals. In yards of all sizes, in garden beds, in wall planters, in pots, on patios, near the pool and spa, and at entryways—seasonal color breathes fresh life into your landscape design.

Houston Lawn Care

Life is too busy and unpredictable for the working Houstonian to take care of his or her landscape consistently. A professional service agreement will see to it that every element of the yard is properly attended to with the right amount of attention, proper tools and materials, and in the right order and season it should be done. Houston lawn care is best managed under a comprehensive landscape maintenance contract that will make sure that all elements of grass health and growth are ensured throughout the year.

One of the more neglected aspects of Houston lawn care is inspecting the yard to see if the right types of grasses have been installed in the correct locations. San Augustine grass grows very well in both sunny areas and shade. However, when it turns brown, it looks unsightly. With a landscaping and maintenance plan, Zoisa grass and Bermuda grass can be installed to diversify the sunny areas of a yard and distinguish it from neighboring homes.

Water can also be a rather tricky aspect of Houston lawn care. Not everyone knows when and how to water a yard properly. Care must be taken not to overwater certain areas, or water the yard when the sun has already become too hot. Many Houston residents have now resorted to the convenience of automated sprinkler systems that allow them to program times of day and night so the system takes care of it for them. It is not always easy to know what time of day works best based on the season of the year, and it is also very hard with some sprinkler systems to deliver different amounts of water to different areas that have been planted with atypical, yet very attractive, grass species.

This is why we strongly recommend having Exterior Worlds install a professional irrigation system and drainage system that will handle all aspects of not only Houston lawn, but garden care as well. Our irrigation systems are fully automated and much more advanced than retail sprinkler systems because they are custom designed for a specific property and as part of a master landscaping plan. These systems will selectively water different parts of the yard at optimal times of day, and they will deliver just the right amount of water to the particular grass species that is growing in that zone.

Another very important thing to remember in Houston lawn care is the proper use of fertilizer. This is another area where people get themselves into trouble without a maintenance contract. Too much fertilizer will harm the grass, and too little will be ineffective. If different grass species are growing in the yard, or if grass health is less than optimal, it is best to outsource this to professional landscapers with degrees in botanical science. Our team knows what types of fertilizer will work and what types will not work with different grass species, and they know how to create their own compost mixtures, when necessary, to make certain that each yard zone gets proper treatment and the best chances at growth.

Something else that many people in Houston never even think about when it comes to Houston lawn care is aeration. The soil in our part of the world is a thick, clay-like mixture that quickly compacts and squeezes out the oxygen. Plant roots need oxygen to grow, so this will stunt the development of grass if pockets of air are not reintroduced into the soil. Aeration restores soil oxygen content, but it is time consuming and sometimes very grueling work. Exterior Worlds can handle this for you and make certain soil oxygen content is at optimal levels before we leave your home.

Call today to setup a free consultation to look over your property and develop both a master landscaping design and supportive landscape maintenance contract to preserve the value of your home and property investment in today’s problematic marketplace.

Landscape Maintenance

Our landscape has become more and more sophisticated over the years and we need a landscape maintenance firm that can properly care for it. Can Exterior Worlds help us out?
A beautiful yard says something special about the homeowners and, after spending your hard-earned money on a landscape installation, it now makes sense to protect it and make sure it develops as designed. And that’s where an Exterior Worlds’ landscape maintenance program comes in.

The services listed below are part of any excellent landscape maintenance contract. But Exterior Worlds prides itself on providing extras, such as identifying unexpected diseases and providing an estimate for treatment, and treating all landscape elements—for example, your sculptures and statues, irrigation systems and landscape lighting—with particular respect. We are also mindful of hard surface maintenance: pathways, driveways, patios and outdoor kitchens. Water elements, such as swimming pools and outdoor water fountains, that may accumulate debris during trimming of shrubs or lawn are cleaned as well.

Please give us Exterior World’s philosophy of maintenance.
Landscape maintenance starts with your turf. Houston lawns typically need trimming weekly through the summer and bi-weekly in the winter. We also recommend that lawns be aerated twice a year, although with aeration the more often, the better.
Other key components of our maintenance program:

• Shrubs, Ground Cover and Vines. As part of our thorough landscaping maintenance program, hedges, shrubs and bushes are trimmed regularly to maintain the desired contours. Vines and ground cover are also edged to maintain a neat appearance. This regularly-scheduled maintenance ensures that all elements conform to the original plan of your landscape design.
• Flower Bed Maintenance. We weed flower beds weekly. We also turn the mulch every two weeks so as to keep the exchange of air and water flowing into and out of the soil. To optimize the growth and bloom cycles of seasonal flowers, we regularly prune and fertilize them.
• Tree Maintenance. All small trees are pruned as necessary. As a good practice of landscaping maintenance, we also schedule a deep root fertilization of these trees annually.

What about long-term care? An important step for your landscape’s long-term health is a pro-active fertilization and chemical treatment program. It provides a healthy boost to plants and is also a preventative for diseases and infestations common to our area.

We recommend that lawns be fertilized four times a year. All vines, ground covers and bushes should be on a similar schedule. Roses need to be fertilized in the spring, and then continued every four to six weeks during the growing season. Azaleas and gardenias need fertilization in April and May, and acidified in February.

For Houston lawns, one of the most common diseases is brown patch, or “Rhizoctonia solani.” The solution is a basic maintenance program involving a fungicide and herbicide treatment. For Houston roses, the major enemy is black spot disease, therefore roses need to be sprayed when black spot appears. Finally, we have found that all plants benefit from chemical treatments to protect against various insect infestations.

Commercial Irrigation Systems

For more than 20 years, Exterior Worlds has installed commercial irrigation systems in the greater Houston area that provide convenience and peace of mind. Sprinkler systems help control the correct amount of water to the various plant materials.

Commercial irrigation systems divide your landscape design into separate zones, usually by grass, beds and color areas, which have different watering needs due to varying plant materials and sunlight conditions. They help maintain the health of your commercial landscaping, whether it’s the time of year for Houston’s infamous monsoon-like rains or we’re in drought conditions.

The typical irrigation system contains a complex system of heads and controller technology that we use to create a site-specific system for your commercial property. Features include:

• Pop-up spray heads that are perfect for smaller spaces such as landscape beds and odd spaces created by sidewalks. These small heads usually produce a fan-shaped spray of water.
• Drip irrigation and bubblers work well for trees and specialty gardens; also containers such as pots, planters and urns.
• Rotors are water heads that work well in expanses of grass. Rotor describes the sprinklers that operate by rotating streams of water back and forth across the landscape.
• Controllers contain sophisticated programming, such as rain sensors and water delay features, that prevents over-watering of your plant material during times of natural rain.
• Timers and time delays let you set an automatic schedule for your property while still allowing you the ability to switch to manual for the unexpected occasions.

In the pre-planning phase, Exterior Worlds works under this supposition: good coverage and plenty of valves equal great control. We believe that proper head spacing within an irrigation system is crucial for proper watering coverage. These calculations and the specific measuring of head locations are the steps that provide even coverage. Most systems available today are divided into circuits, each with its own control valve. Control valves are operated by an electronic controller that turns each circuit on and off according to the schedule you desire.

If your property is in the construction phase, we suggest a proactive tree preservation plan. It may include a temporary irrigation system to water the trees during construction. We also recommend hand-digging around trees to minimize damage to them and their root systems. As with all digging, it is important to call for utility line locations first. If you want to install an irrigation system in an established lawn, trenches should be hand-dug so as not to disturb any lines and wiring, including landscape lighting wiring.

When installing an irrigation system, plans and permits are required by some cities, a process in which our experience really comes to the fore.

Ongoing maintenance is the last critical requirement of commercial irrigation systems. These systems require regular care, such as the replacement of broken heads and stuck valves. Before working with any contractor, Exterior Worlds advises that you understand what kind of commercial landscape maintenance service is offered after the installation.

The bottom line is that commercial irrigation systems save time, money, energy and water.

Houston Lawn Maintenance

What are the special considerations of Houston lawn maintenance?
Once you’ve finished the design and installation of your landscape, then comes the day-in, day-out care of it, its plant material and hardscapes. Because of our climate, Houston lawn maintenance requires year-round attention to maintain the intent of your original design, add any new elements, such as seasonal color, and perform the tasks peculiar to our climate and environment.

As a premier Houston lawn service company, Exterior Worlds recommends that ongoing maintenance begins with your turf—its health, care and looks. Houston yards demand mowing and trimming once a week in the spring and summer months. From November through February, you can do it every other week. Dethatching, the process of removing thatch or excessively thick grass, is an important part of turf maintenance and promotes healthy lawns. It is done by hand or machine.

A great way to keep your yard beautiful throughout the fall and winter months is by seeding the lawn with winter grass. Early to late October is normally the best time to spread it, as dictated by local temperature ranges. It should be noted, however, that rye grass does have some disadvantages. For example, rye grass can compete with the St. Augustine grass for nutrition and space, making it difficult on the St. Augustine when springtime arrives. In particular, this struggle occurs in shady areas where St. Augustine typically has difficulty establishing itself.

We also encourage lawn aeration, sometimes called core aeration. This lawn care practice is recommended for compacted, heavily-used turf and also to help control thatch build-up. Lawn aeration involves the use of a core aerator to remove small soil plugs or cores out of the lawn. A different type of aerator pushes solid spikes or tines into the soil without removing a plug, a procedure known as spiking. Because of Houston’s clay soil, spiking is not as effective as core aeration since spiking can actually contribute to compaction.

We are also big believers in the value of a sensible chemical program. Types of fertilizers we use include organic, semi-organic, slow release, fast release, winterizer, and low salt. Two other important treatments are insecticides and fungicides, which help control the ever-present danger in Houston lawn maintenance care of disease, fungus and insect infestations.

What can Exterior Worlds tell us about water management and irrigation systems?
For deeper water penetration, which gives your plant material stronger root systems and healthier plants, we recommend watering long and less often. It makes your lawn more drought-resistant, plus you save money because you water less.

Investing in an irrigation system can be a time-, money- and energy-saver for your Houston lawn maintenance program. We suggest quarterly inspection of your system since sprinkler systems, like all machines, break down from time to time and need repair. A regularly-scheduled survey prevents the loss of water from undetected leaks, something that is important for the environment and your bank account. Attention to this detail is extremely important on large residential properties and commercial lawn maintenance.

Can Exterior Worlds help us with ongoing maintenance?
Absolutely. Please follow this link which talks about our maintenance contracts.

Commercial Ground Maintenance

As a commercial property manager or owner, you are faced with your everyday juggling act of meeting the demands of tenants, providing property security and controlling budgets. Time management is critical. Therefore, you want to find a commercial ground maintenance company who will partner with you in reaching your short-term and long-term goals. It will only make your job easier to work with a provider, such as Exterior Worlds, who honors your time by fulfilling our commitments with little supervision from you.

The benefits of a high quality commercial ground maintenance program, such as we offer, include:

• Protects your financial commitment
• Provides pleasurable surroundings for your customers or your tenants and their customers
• Retains tenants by maintaining inviting and enjoyable greenspaces
• Helps conserve and improve your overall property value

The principal components of our commercial maintenance program involve:

Lawn maintenance services. One of the major aspects of a commercial landscape maintenance program, turf maintenance is more than just mowing the grass. It entails edging, feeding and treating, all activities undertaken to promote vigorous growth. It also includes a complete clean-up so that your tenants can return quickly to enjoying the grounds once the crew leaves.
Annual plantings. Regular rotation of color is an important part of maintaining a positive image in the public eye. The staff of Exterior Worlds possesses skilled knowledge of plant material, color, and texture that creates designs that people will remember. Mulch installation and mulch maintenance prevents erosion and helps the soil retain moisture.

Trimming bushes, hedges and ground covers. As part of our complete commercial ground maintenance program, smaller plants and ground cover are trimmed regularly to the ideal contours. The intention is to ensure that all elements conform to the original landscape design.

Fertilizations and feedings. As a form of insurance for your plants, we provide a scheduled feeding program to ensure the health of acidic, tropical and seasonal color plants. The feeding program may be supplemented by spring and fall aeration of lawn areas.

Chemical treatments. We believe insecticide and herbicide treatments are also critical to the overall health of plants. Regular observation and diagnosis of plant pests and diseases are an important step in an inclusive and proactive commercial ground maintenance program.

Inspection of irrigation system. It is critical to have irrigation systems that work smoothly. Otherwise it can be very costly. Proper maintenance minimizes the chance of copious amounts water pouring out of broken lines and heads. Preventive maintenance has resulted in savings of as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per month for some of our commercial clients.

Tree preservation and care. We also provide top flight care for your trees, which are valuable attributes of your property. To avoid insect infestations, trees need to be inspected regularly. Insects can kill trees, especially if the trees are already stressed due to construction or when Houston’s weather turns hot. Because the Houston summer can be very hard on trees, deep root fertilization is important for healthy trees. Regular aeration also supports root growth.

Whether you want to improve the cost of maintaining your landscape, have a new property that needs service, or want to ramp up an under performing one, call Exterior Worlds at 713-827-2255 to discuss your landscaping needs.

Commercial Drainage Systems

In Houston, storm drainage issues are very serious due to our flat topography, dense clay soils, and heavily-forested lots compacted by years of construction which have increased impenetrable surfaces. These factors have caused more streets and properties to become flooded during the hardest rainfalls. Exterior Worlds understands these challenges that commercial real estate owners face. Our experience translates into devising and installing commercial drainage systems that work for you.

Commercial drainage systems benefit your greenscapes, sidewalks, driveways, planters, retaining walls and foundations. They are also a useful tool on a construction site during the building phase.

Drainage systems also have an overall positive impact on your commercial landscape maintenance program. A proper landscape drainage system is essential for the care of your lawn areas as it carries water off of your property quickly, thus encouraging healthy grass. Because of the timely removal of standing water, they allow your maintenance crew, such as we offer, to perform their regular lawn service duties. Since these systems drain water from low-lying areas, they prevent standing water that encourages mosquito proliferation, drowns your green plant material and causes slippery surfaces that are a danger to your clients.

Along with commercial drainage systems, irrigation systems are the workhorses of your landscape design, helping your plants to thrive and keeping your grounds safe and dry. The design and location of these two systems should be incorporated with the rest of the landscape design and made to work in concert with each other. Landscape designers or landscape architects can develop a big-picture plan so that the hardware of both systems is invisible as much as possible.

Some local restrictions may govern minimum pipe sizes, flow rates, engineered drainage plans, calculations, temporary drainage systems and as/built plans to address the region’s flooding problems. If you hire a drainage contractor who is unfamiliar with these demands, you may find yourself stuck in a murky swamp that can cost thousands to remedy.

When installing commercial drainage systems, we believe it is important to consider tree preservation. Pressurized water or compressed air can be used to dig deep trenches and expose roots, which minimizes damage. Another method is to dig trenches by hand around trees to limit damage to the root systems.

Typical drainage systems for commercial properties may use the following elements:

• Gutter downspout tie-ins. Downspout tie-ins take water from the gutters to the landscape drainage system. Made of plastic, metal or brass.
• Catch basins, or yard drains. Catch basins are situated beneath downspouts when it is undesirable or not possible to tie into the gutter.
• French drainage. Designed to take water away from saturated soil, French drains are small ditches filled with undersized rocks or gravel.
• Channel drains. These strip drains are long and narrow. Used at the edge of sidewalks and parking lots or between structures and pavement.

Exterior Worlds’ goal is to help you achieve your investment objectives by preserving your asset for long-term appreciation. We are large enough to satisfy the most demanding commercial landscaping needs, yet small enough to deliver customized service for each client.

Since 1987, Exterior Worlds has provided high-end commercial and residential landscape design and services for the greater Houston area. Call 713.827.2255 to discuss drainage systems for your property.

Mulch Services & Installation

Mulch installation is an ideal example of the lengths that Exterior Worlds will go to in order to bring quality service to each and every job. We pride ourselves on our dedication to excellence—from the big projects, like putting in a property-wide drainage system, including French drains, to the small tasks, like mulch installation.

In general, mulch is shredded old limbs, trees and shrubs that have been composted. In this part of the U.S., pine and cedar are the most commonly used material for mulch. The benefits of mulching are comprehensive. Mulch keeps moisture in the ground, which is crucial during our hot months—and helps keep your water bill down besides! Mulch reduces the unattractive growth of weeds. Correct mulch installation also can prevent erosion, something valuable during our rainy season. Some mulch is specifically designed to knit together and form a netted surface. This type of mulch is particularly advantageous where there is elevation, since erosion occurs there first.

At Exterior Worlds, we believe proper mulch installation entails:
• Using a premium mulch. We buy from the best providers in the area, people we have known and trusted for years.
• Not over-mulching. We often find that less-knowledgeable competitors put too much mulch onto the beds. This practice means mulch stacks too high up plant stalks, which can actually kill your plants.
• Using bags rather than transporting by wheelbarrow. Bagged mulch is easier and less messy to carry from one section of the landscape to another. It also eliminates the dilemma of what to do with any excess mulch and the temptation to over-mulch.
• Not—repeat, not—covering the weep-holes in the house’s foundation. This point is essential in Houston due to our unsavory distinction of being a hot zone for termites. Mulch in weep-holes invites termites into your home.
• Breaking up the mulch or turning it regularly. Our residential yard maintenance contracts offer this service which needs to be done every two weeks.
• Mulching twice a year. We install mulch so that there is no build-up around plants and trees, even when it requires spreading it with our hands.

Other types of mulch include gravel, glass and rubber, materials that are generally low maintenance and decompose very slowly. In particular, glass mulch looks terrific in a contemporary garden design. Mulch that has been treated with a bio-degradable dye is also readily available. We often recommend black mulch as we think it visually makes greenery more pleasing.

Because Exterior Worlds recognizes that each of you is unique, our services can be customized and specialized for your specific needs. If you want a single element added to your landscape design, say, an outdoor water fountain or outdoor room, we can do that for you. Or you may need regular garden services. If so, we can customize a contract just for those ongoing duties.

Our services are for serious Houston homeowners in upscale neighborhoods such as West University, Bellaire, Tanglewood, River Oaks and the Memorial Villages. Our expertise extends to the maintenance of gardens done in a specific style; for example, Japanese garden design, classic landscape design, Mediterranean landscape design.

We welcome your call at 713-827-2255 to discuss mulching and all your other landscaping needs.

Maintenance Program

A maintenance program is the very best way to protect your landscaping investment. They is meant to be a cost-effective means of getting all the all necessary services you need consolidated at a fixed price point. A maintenance program will also save you money in the long run on replacement costs by preventing the loss of expensive gardens, trees, and hedge plantings. Even your yard will benefit from such a service agreement that has been customized to the specifics of your lawn and landscape by the very same professionals who designed it.

A maintenance program begins with lawn services.
Your lawn needs a lot more care than you may think. It must be trimmed every week during summer and every two weeks during winter. It also has to be aerated frequently so that clay-like soil of our area does not clump too heavily around grass roots and choke off water and nutrients. Fertilizer needs to be added four times per year.

Irrigation and drainage is another vital line item that should be on every maintenance program.
Whatever you do, do not wait until the drainage system floods due to neglect and clogging from debris. Water drainage is a very complicated science on the type of flat terrain that we have here in Houston, and only a landscape professionals can build one correctly and maintain it proactively. Drains must be cleaned throughout the year to remain free of debris. Irrigation pipes should also checked periodically during months when there is little or no rainfall in order to make sure the water is running the way it needs to be. One clogged drain on the day before a storm can result in a flooded landscape on the day after the storm. Be proactive, not reactive.

Pruning of trees, shrubs, and hedges are recommended components of a maintenance program.
Pruning keeps trees and shrubs healthy and makes them look superb. Smaller shrubs, trees, and bushes that often need the most attention and care. Many smaller species are very hardy plants that are always sprouting new leaves and branches. Pruning them helps maintain their shape and neat appearance.

Ground cover and flower beds should get weekly attention. These things too can be covered under your maintenance program. It is important to have your landscape design company perform these services because lawn companies seldom know how to properly weed ornate flower beds or properly trim vines and exotic ground cover species.

Deep root tree fertilization needs be done on any property that has very large trees with extensive root systems.
Big trees have enormous root systems underground. A maintenance program needs to include annual deep tree root fertilization services that will ensure the health, vitality, and longevity of the tree.

Garden Care

Garden care looks simple, but it involves a great deal more than you might think. Quality garden care should always be done by a trained professional, because it involves so much more than weeding and watering plants. It is a sophisticated science of cultivation—many aspects of which must be attended to prior to planting of the garden itself.

One of these aspects is developing effective drain systems in and around the garden. Drains are much more difficult to install than you might think. It is one thing to create a method of water removal, but it is quite another to build it effectively without letting it be seen. Professionals have to do this so that pipes, gratings, and any holes in the ground are concealed. Our planning and development team puts a great deal of care and effort into building drainage systems in this manner, and they also work very hard to periodically maintain them to keep them clean and functional.

The engineering of an irrigation system is yet another crucial component of garden care. Houston often will see several months with no rainfall during the hottest time of the year. The majority of exotic and tropical species that we cultivate cannot survive these months without some type of irrigation. We strongly advise all of our clients to avoid using garden hoses to water these plants. This is because plan leaves, when wet, become vulnerable to fungal growth. Plants remain much healthier and look much more attractive when they are irrigated beneath the leaves close to the ground and the root system.

Still another important part of garden care that must be done in the very beginning is soil preparation. Many of our first time clients have already planted some type of garden that has since become unhealthy or unsatisfactory in appearance. When we go out to visit them, we often discover that the problem began in the beginning with improper soil preparation. Store-bought fertilizer is often the root cause. Not every type of fertilizer will work with every type of plant, and many people fail to read the labels on the bag that tell them just what types of plants the fertilizer is intended to nourish. Most are manufactured for popular species of flowers and plants and may not work very well at all with more exotic or tropical species that people may decide to add to the garden later. It takes knowledge of botany and what nutrients each type of plant specifically needs to create just the right soil mixture required for a diversity of plantings that may otherwise not be able to grow together at all.

The aesthetic aspects of garden care are also important. The basics of clipping, weeding, and trimming even the simplest of flower beds have to be done no matter how large or small the garden is, and no matter how simple or complex it is. Again, we recommend that people not try to do this themselves. Some plants are very sensitive and require very special trimming methods. Furthermore, specific garden designs like parterre garden, the knot garden, the English garden, the Italian garden, and the Japanese garden have to be trimmed by people who know these forms—preferably by the people that planted them.

For these reasons, and many more, we always recommend that garden care be managed as a line item on a landscaping maintenance agreement with Exterior Worlds. This allows the team who designed the garden to consistently and cost effectively maintain its vitality and health.

Commercial Landscaping

As a property manager, I need to know about commercial landscaping. What can Exterior Worlds tell me about commercial landscape design?
We have helped our commercial clients with their landscaping needs for more than 20 years. A commercial landscaping project begins with design. During this phase, landscape designers or landscape architects bring together your program elements, permit issues and desired aesthetics, likes, dislikes, opportunities and limitations. In providing design services, a well-versed landscaping professional creatively and diligently works to help you define the scope of your project and stay within budget. They also assist in the selection of materials, scheduling of vendors and coordination of work flow.

Two necessary features of any commercial project are drainage systems and irrigation systems. Landscape drainage is essential for commercial properties in Houston due to our dense soils, low-lying areas and unpredictable rainfall. A proper drainage system protects your property from flooding by carrying water away from roofs, paved areas and landscaping, thereby avoiding standing water where people can slip and fall and mosquitoes can breed. Drainage contractors can provide a holistic approach to ensure all the pieces work well together. Irrigation systems save money by supplying appropriate amounts of water to plant materials, thus protecting your landscape investment. They perform this function by separating the lawn, flower beds and planters into different areas that require differing amounts of water.

What are the benefits of a well-designed commercial property?
Expert commercial landscaping preserves and enhances your overall property value. A well-designed landscape makes a positive first impression on prospective tenants. It also helps keep your current tenants happy by giving them a pleasant ambiance.

Landscape lighting is an important attribute of the well-maintained commercial property. It is a proven deterrent to crime, providing an invaluable benefit to businesses that are open at night. Additionally, a well-designed landscape lighting system gives your property 24/7 visibility.

The addition of seasonal color creates an updated image for your property. Your Houston landscaping services company needs to have a creative skill with plant choices, color and texture that make your property memorable.

What about ongoing maintenance?
An important partner for you as a property manager is a commercial landscape maintenance provider who can work efficiently and effectively without continual oversight, as Exterior Worlds does for our clients. Your maintenance contract should cover duties such as mowing, edging, fertilization and disease treatment. Bushes, hedges, small trees and ground cover need to be trimmed so that they conform to the original design’s intent. Large or mature trees deserve special treatment such as regular deep-root feeding and aeration (to promote healthy roots). Plant materials and trees are susceptible to pests and diseases and therefore need systematic observation and treatment.

You also want a commercial landscaping partner who handles preventive maintenance. For instance, proper maintenance and regular inspections of the irrigation system will detect such problems as broken lines and heads. This service is absolutely critical for commercial properties. We have saved some of our clients as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per month because we early on caught problems with their irrigation systems.

Professional Landscaping Maintenance

Do I really need a professional landscaping company to handle the simple elements of maintenance I can do myself?
You do not have to pay anyone to do the genuinely simple if it is indeed genuinely simple. The problem people run into when they try to maintain their own landscaping features is they mistake symmetry, order, and form as something easy to maintain. Harmony has a way of concealing its complexity behind the façade of deceptively simple appearance. In many ways, a landscape is a mirror into reality itself—there is always more to it that what meets the eye at face value.

Professional landscaping maintenance will definitely cost extra money. However, it is the only reliable way to manage the growth of your landscaping elements that organically evolve the intended forms through natural processes. We do not interfere with Nature’s directions and designs—we simply direct them gently toward intended outcomes.

There is a pickup truck driving around my neighborhood advertising gardening services. Is that what you mean by professional landscaping maintenance?
It depends on what types of gardens these contractors specialize in maintaining. Flower beds and plantings of monkey grass are equivalent to do-it-yourself landscaping that a basic knowledge of plant life in general is sufficient to maintain.

More elaborate garden designs need much more than simple yard work know-how to maintain. The best rule to follow is: take it back to the source. IE: if a professional landscaper painstakingly designed and installed your garden, then you are investing in its possible destruction if you hire an unknown or an amateur to maintain it simply on the basis of short-term savings.

While expensive gardens share the same basic needs as simple gardens for water, sunlight, and fertilizer, the commonality ends here. The more complex and diverse a plant population becomes, the more it will need an expert knowledge of particular plant species and what cultivation and fertilization techniques will benefit the system as a whole as opposed to only one or two individual plants.

Investing in a professional landscaping maintenance agreement is your best hope of ensuring that you will preserve what the original landscaper intended. Ideally, it is best to contract your original landscaper as your as the “gardener on call,” so to speak, because the person who installed the garden knows best how to maintain it.
Why not hire tree trimming contractors to handle tree overgrowth?
You may be assuming that a large tree is more indestructible than it actually is. The reality is, the tree has many vulnerable points that can damage or kill it if it is damaged or struck in these places. Roots that appear minor may actually be the equivalent of major arteries. Branches that appear to be useless may actually cause other portions of the trunk and neighboring branches to die if excessively trimmed or removed outright. Bark, which looks dead to us, is actually very much a living and vital covering for the interior wood pulp of the trees trunk. Scarring the bark opens up the tree to infection by disease and infestation by parasites.

Exterior World’s professional landscaping maintenance crews are trained in tree preservation and bound by a strict set of company guidelines to never compromise the health or safety of a tree to create a temporarily pleasing scene. In the long run, a dead tree ruins a landscape and tragically ends a beautiful life of one of Nature’s most perfect forms.

Any landscaping maintenance you need done at the bottom of a tree or anywhere close to shallow root systems needs to be done by an expert. If you take a shortcut and accidentally end up with a dead tree, the cost of tree removal will cost you a small fortune on top of a diminished property value.

Can I install my own tree lights or have a freelance contractor do it?
No. You need a professional lighting design firm trained in tree friendly lighting techniques who will use commercial grade lighting fixtures in your trees which you will not be able to obtain through retail channels or get from the back of an unmarked pickup truck offering you a “free trial.”

Never trust a questionable source that is obviously questionable for a reason. In fact, ask us to find you a lighting company that we are confident will work with, never against, the health of your trees and the beauty of your yard.

Are landscaping maintenance contracts expensive?
To be honest, they are neither free nor “cheap” in the colloquial sense. However, they are the equivalent of insurance that save you money in the long term by preventing pay as you go hourly costs from overtaking your budget prematurely and unexpectedly. Also, they guarantee specific services in writing and specific intervals at which you can expect said services to be rendered. Best of all, they spell out in plain brass tax, with nothing to hide, what you need to spend, and what you can expect to gain from your financial investment.

Maintenance Contracts

Why do I need a maintenance contract?

A beautiful yard says something about the owners. Whether a small garden design, a formal landscape design, subtle and simple, or made dramatic with landscape lighting, a well-kept landscape sends a special message. Just as important—from the street, a landscape that is meticulously maintained makes a home stand out, which is important when it comes time to sell it. After spending a lot of money, time and energy on your landscape design, it makes sense to protect it and ensure that it develops as planned. And that’s where landscape maintenance contracts come into play.

Tell me about your landscape services.

In business since 1987, Exterior Worlds provides residential landscape maintenance to properties in the greater Houston area. Our basic maintenance contracts cover regularly scheduled visits, in increments of 42 or 52 weeks per year (weather permitting), in which your landscape is tended to with immaculate care. Additionally, we provide commercial landscape maintenance, as well as high-end landscape design services.

What do the Exterior Worlds’ basic maintenance contracts cover?

• Lawn Maintenance. The lawn areas are mowed and edged and all debris caused by maintenance is removed. Any diseases are identified for which the homeowner is presented with an estimate for treatment.

• Flower Bed Maintenance. Beds are weeded as necessary and mulch is turned regularly. Roses and annual flowers are also tended to with rose maintenance including dead-heading and fertilizing every six weeks during the growing season. Annual flowers are dead-headed and fertilized as well.

• Shrub, Ground Cover and Vine Maintenance. Hedges, shrubs and ground covers are trimmed to conform to the intent of the landscape design. Vines are pruned to maintain desired appearance. Beds are edged to maintain neat appearance. All debris will be removed with each service.

• Annual Flowers Maintenance. We can develop a separate estimate for seasonal change-outs at your request. Once a program is begun, seasonal flowers are fertilized and pruned for optimal growth and color.

• Tree Maintenance. Exterior Worlds understands the value of trees and are big believers in tree preservation. We inspect them for disease and insect infestations. As a part of regular maintenance, small trees are trimmed as necessary. Fallen leaves and limbs will be removed regularly. For taller trees, a service estimate is provided as needed.

• Fertilization Program. We think lawn areas benefit from fertilization four times a year. Azaleas and gardenias will be fertilized in April or May—and acidified in February. Shrubs, ground covers and vines are fertilized quarterly. Fungicides and insecticides are applied two to four times per year. Exterior Worlds is licensed and regulated under the Texas Structural Pest Control Board, License # 12015. For your information: Texas Structural Pest Control Board, P.O. Box 1927, Austin, TX 78767-1927. 512-305-8250.

• Surface maintenance. We clear and clean all surfaces at the end of a service call. Additionally, the surfaces of any swimming pools, ponds or outdoor water fountains will be skimmed to collect accumulated debris.

If you are interested in any high-quality landscape services, Exterior Worlds has been providing the high-end residential landscape services and garden design services discussed above for the Houston and the surrounding areas including memorial villages (Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hunter Creek Village), Tanglewood, River Oaks, West University and the greater Houston (Hou), area since 1987. Contact us at 713-827-2255

Annual Flowers in Houston

Use annual flowers to liven up you landscape.
Flower gardens can bring beauty and mark the change of seasons in both the residential and commercial landscape. Seasonal color can bring a positive image to a commercial building that can indicate attention to detail and class. Annual flowers bring to life the front entry of a home, create light and excitement to shrub boarders or can accent a water feature or restful area in the yard. Whatever the function annual flowers bring beauty and classiness to a home or business.

What annual flower are their to choose from?
It’s imperative that annual flowers be chosen to make a bold impact. Residential and commercial flowers planted as a combination of all colors often times come across as a riot of different colors. We approach annual flowers the same as a landscape design; we center our attention on their layouts, unique patterning as well as simplify design. Complimentary colors, simple contrasts of textures and flowers make a great statement. Sometimes just varying two different types of flowers is enough. There is a big difference between mediocre mixed annual flower borders and annual color combinations that are bold, dominant and simple.

What are good annual flowers for Houston landscaping?
In Houston, annuals and perennial flower combinations can be chosen that last from early winter through spring and then from summer through the hot fall. Even though, with unpredictable heat and drought, it’s more the case that annual and perennial flower combinations are changed out quarterly. Some examples are as follows and also take into consideration sun conditions:

• Spring-petunias, geraniums, dianthus, begonias, caladiums, impatiens
• Summer- lantana, plumbago, moss rose, salvia, caladiums, salvias and shrub rose varieties
• Fall/Winter-cyclamen, pansies, violas, alyssum, cabbage and kale

How can you be successful planting of seasonal color plants?
Bed preparation, good drainage and water coverage are all important to being successful with annual and perennial flowers in Houston. Be sure to have the correct drainage system so the planting bed doesn’t hold water. Be sure that the ground is not solid clay, amend with compost and soil. Also, make certain that there is good irrigation system that covers the area. During times of drought especially, if your irrigation system is not getting the proper coverage it will show. Fertilization and chemical treatments are the next important step in being successful with annual color and should also be a part of the landscape maintenance program providing a boost to healthy plants and preventing disease or infestations common to the Houston area.

Fertilization is the next important issue to attend to. For continual blooms, flowers should be fertilized every six weeks or so in the Houston landscape. Also, dead heading which is simply pinching off the flowers that have died should also be done to encourage profuse blooming. Regular landscape maintenance ensure that the flower beds are weeded weekly. It is also a good idea to turn the mulch every two weeks so that you keep the exchange of air and water flowing into and out of the soil. To optimize the growth and bloom cycles of seasonal flowers, they also should be regularly pruned.

Being successful with annual flowers takes knowledge and experience of color combinations, sun conditions, seasonal color plant section, proper amending of the soil as well as maintenance to be successful in our difficult Gulf Coast Climate.

If you are interested in any high-quality landscape services, Exterior Worlds has been providing the high-end residential landscape services and garden design services discussed above for the Houston and the surrounding areas including the Memorial Villages, Tanglewood, River Oaks, West University and the greater Houston (Hou), area since 1987. Contact us at 713-827-2255

Commercial Landscape Maintenance

What can a good commercial landscape maintenance plan do for my property?
As a commercial property manager or owner, you want to find a commercial landscape maintenance company who will partner with you in reaching your long- and short-term goals. With your daily priorities of meeting the needs and demands of tenants, establishing property security and controlling budgets, time management is critical. Therefore, it will make your job easier to work with a provider who honors your time. Finally, every property is unique, and so you want to work with a landscape service company who will maintain your property so that its strengths are maximized and, just as important, its weaknesses minimized.

What are the main elements of a Commercial Landscape Maintenance Program?

The benefits. A quality maintenance program provides these four advantages:
• Presents a positive image to your customers or tenants and their customers
• Protects your investment
• Extends and retains tenants by maintaining beautiful grounds
• Helps conserve and enhance property value

The basic components of a commercial landscape maintenance program involve:
Commercial Landscape design services and installation—
1. Design and installation. In the design phase, a landscape service provider will work with you on the program elements, permitting issues, design approach—including your likes and dislikes—and aesthetics. The next phase may include landscape layout, planting plans and cost studies. In providing landscape services, a true professional should work diligently and patiently to help you define the scope of your project, determine the scheduling, coordinate vendors, assist in the selection of materials, and develop a final budget.
2. Landscape lighting. A well-designed landscape lighting system gives a commercial property 24/7 visibility. Since lighting is a big deterrent of crime, one of the most important services that it delivers is safety, thereby providing an invaluable service to establishments that conduct business at night, such as hotels, country clubs, social clubs, colleges, schools, museums, and restaurants. Ultimately, though, the main propose of landscape lighting is to create a beautiful nighttime vista of the landscape.
3. Irrigation systems. Money savings and convenience are the two main descriptors of an irrigation system. It supplies the appropriate amount of water to the appropriate plant material. It separates the lawn, beds and color areas into different zones that require different watering conditions due to the various plant types and sunlight conditions. Finally, it utilizes controller box technologies, such as timers, time delays and rain sensors, that let you set an automatic schedule based on your landscape needs while, at the same time, allowing you to switch to manual for unplanned events.
4. Drainage systems. With Houston’s heavy soils, low-lying areas and torrential rains, proper landscape drainage is essential for three reasons: a) to protect your property from flooding b) to protect the foundation of the building(s) from cracking and uneven shrinkage or swelling c) to properly drain roofs and landscaped areas to avoid standing water that can cause slippery surfaces, breeding grounds for mosquitoes or drowned landscaping. A landscape drainage system should be viewed as a whole to ensure that its appropriate functions and fixtures work together properly.

Regular maintenance—
1. Turf maintenance. One of the most basic features of a commercial landscape maintenance program, turf maintenance is more than just cutting the grass. It is edging, feeding and treating—all activities that promote healthy growth. And it is meticulous clean-up so that your tenants can quickly return to enjoying the grounds once the crew leaves.
2. Trimming hedges and ground covers. As part of a thorough commercial landscape maintenance program, hedges, shrubs and bushes should be trimmed regularly to the desired contours. Ground cover and vines should be edged to maintain a neat appearance. The intention is to ensure that all elements conform to the overall plan of the landscape design.
3. Tree care. A top-notch commercial landscape maintenance company will attend to trees, which are valuable assets. Houston summers can be very stressful for trees, so deep-root fertilization is important because it promotes healthy trees. Aeration also encourages root growth. Trees should be inspected regularly for any insect infestations. Insects, such as pine bark beetles and boring insects, can be tree killers, sometimes striking very quickly, especially when Houston’s weather turns hot or if trees are suffering due to construction duress.
4. Fertilizations. Critical to plant health, regular fertilization is a form of insurance for your plants. Commercial landscape maintenance providers should have a methodical feeding program that insures the health of tropical, acidic and seasonal color plants. The feeding program may also include spring and fall aeration of lawn areas with the application of fall rye grass.
5. Herbicide and insecticide treatments. These programs are also critical to plant health. Continual observation and diagnosis of plant pests and diseases are the last part of a complete and proactive commercial landscape maintenance program.

Annual Flowers—
1. Annual flowers are an important part of presenting a positive image for any commercial property. You will want to work with a commercial landscape maintenance company whose extensive knowledge of plant material, color, and texture creates eye-catching designs.
Preventive MaintenancePreventive maintenance can be your best defense against potential landscape and property damage—or something going wrong just when you need it to go right. In the long run, preventive maintenance saves money.

As a precaution, a professional commercial landscape maintenance company will make periodic surveys of your property to ensure that everything is in good order. Items on the checklist include:
• Tree inspection. Watch for branches touching the building or overhead wires. Dead limbs need to be trimmed to promote vigorous growth. Trees should be regularly checked for disease, decay or wounds and swift action taken as needed.
• Irrigation inspection. It is critical to have irrigation systems working smoothly as proper maintenance minimizes large amounts water pouring out of broken lines and heads. Jeff Halper with Exterior Worlds says, “This service is so important for commercial properties. For some of our clients, it has meant savings of as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per month.”
Whether you have a brand-new property or want to ramp up an under-performing one call Exterior Worlds to discuss your commercial landscape maintenance needs, they have been providing Houston Landscaping services since 1987.

Commercial Landscape Design in Houston Texas

What can a commercial landscape design do for your property?

As a property owner, investor or developer, you want to find a commercial landscape design firm who will partner with you in reaching your long- and short-term goals. The key component of this process is a good team, which will include landscape designers or landscape architects, the professionals who will help enhance the investment potential of your property. Another key team member will be a commercial landscape maintenance company. Sometime the one company or firm can handle both aspects.

What are the basic components of a commercial landscape design?

• Design. In the early stages of the design process, your commercial landscape design team will work with you on the program elements, aesthetics and permitting issues. The next phase includes landscape layout, planting plans and cost studies. In providing design services, a true professional should work diligently and patiently to help you define the scope of your project, determine the scheduling, coordinate vendors, assist in the selection of materials, and develop a final budget.
• Irrigation systems. Money savings and convenience are the ultimate end goals of an irrigation system. It supplies the appropriate amount of water to the appropriate plant material. It separates the lawn, beds and color areas into different zones that require different watering conditions due to the various plant types, sunlight conditions and weather.
• Drainage systems. With Houston’s heavy soils, low-lying areas and torrential rains, proper landscape drainage is essential for three reasons: a) to protect your property from flooding b) to protect the foundation of the building(s) from cracking and uneven shrinkage or swelling c) to properly drain roofs and landscaped areas to avoid standing water that can cause slippery surfaces, breeding grounds for mosquitoes or drowned landscaping. A landscape drainage system should be viewed as a whole to ensure that its functions and fixtures work together properly.

What does it take to maintenance a high end Commercial Landscape Design?
With your daily priorities of meeting the needs and demands of tenants, establishing property security and controlling budgets, time management is critical. Therefore, it makes your job easier to work with a commercial landscape maintenance provider who honors your time by working efficiently without needing a lot of oversight.

Regular maintenance—
• Lawn Service. This term includes cutting the grass, edging, feeding and treating—activities that promote healthy plant growth.
• Trimming hedges and ground covers. This task ensures that all elements conform to the overall commercial landscape design.
• Tree care. Trees are valuable assets and can be protected with deep-root fertilization. Aeration also encourages root growth. Trees should be inspected regularly for insect infestations and disease.
• Fertilizations. Regular fertilization is a form of insurance for your plants. It means a methodical feeding program that insures the health of tropical, acidic and seasonal color plants.
• Herbicide and insecticide treatments. Continual observation and diagnosis of plant pests and diseases are critical to plant health.

Keep a positive image with annual flowers—
Annual flowers are an important part of a commercial landscape design because they present a continuously positive image of the property. Your commercial landscape maintenance company should possess extensive knowledge of plant material, color, and texture.
What preventive things can you do?
Preventive maintenance can be your best defense against potential landscape and property damage and, in the long run, saves money. Items on the checklist include:
• Tree inspection. Watch for branches touching the building or overhead wires. Dead limbs need to be trimmed to promote vigorous growth. Trees should be regularly checked for disease, decay or wounds and swift action taken as needed.
• Irrigation inspection. Regular inspections and proper maintenance minimize the prospect of large amounts of water pouring from broken lines and heads. Jeff Halper with Exterior Worlds says, “This service is so important for commercial properties. For some of our clients, it has meant savings of as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per month.”
Whether you are developing a new property or want to refurbish an under-performing one, call Exterior Worlds at 713-827-2255 to discuss your commercial landscape design needs.

Lawn Aeration

Why should I aerate my lawn?

There are many other benefits from aeration; increases the activity of microorganisms that promote detaching, increases water infiltration improving drainage and reducing harmful fungi, increase the earth worm population all of these things work together in a synergic relationship to give you a better lawn. Core aeration also reduces fertilizer and pesticide run off which helps the environment and ensures your are getting the most from you applications.

Compacted soil can be even worse in areas that have standing water from existing drainage problems. Compaction greatly reduces the pore space within the soil that would normally hold air. The roots of any grass require oxygen to grow and absorb nutrients and water from the soil. If your soil is compacted the pore spaces are reduced and the amount of air, water and nutrients is reduced. This reduction can greatly impact the quality of turf by impacting the nutrient uptake rate and water infiltration rate.

How do I aerate my lawn?
Core lawn aeration involves the removal of small soil plugs or cores out of the lawn. You can do this manually or by hand, but it is normally accomplished by a machine that has hollow tines or spoons mounted on a disk or drum. This is where the “core” aspect comes in: it extracts 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter cores of soil and deposits them on the lawn. The holes are typically 1-3 inches deep and 2-6 inches apart. Spike type machines pushes solid spikes or tines into the soil without removing a plug. This process is not as effective because it can contribute to compaction. The coring process is the best way to reduce compaction of heavily used turf and to control thatch buildup.

In Houston, the best time to aerate St. Augustine is early spring and late summer. Bermuda grasses and Zoysia grass are best aerated during June and July. During these periods is when the lawn is in a period of vigorous growth and will recover quickly from aeration. If you are planning to over seed your lawn be sure to aerate at least 6 weeks before seeding. If not, your irrigation system or rain water could potentially wash a higher concentration of seeds into the cored holes and creating a spotted lawn.